OSLER FAMILY

This section contains photographs of relatives of William Osler.

There are portraits of his parents, Featherstone Lake and Ellen Free Pickton Osler, who emigrated from Falmouth, Cornwall, England in 1837. Featherstone, an Anglican minister, had been assigned to a parish in what was then a remote area of Canadian wilderness, centred around Bond Head, Ontario. The family later moved to Dundas, Ontario. Both of William Osler's parents lived long lives: Featherstone lived to be ninety and Ellen one hundred years old. They had nine children, eight of whom survived early childhood. Also included is one photograph of William Osler's brother Frank; the brothers bore a strong resemblance to one another.

The bulk of Osler family photos included here are of the family of William's cousin, Marian Osler Francis. Marian and her sister, Jennette Osler, visited Canada in 1866, along with Marian's son Percy Bath, a product of her first marriage (she had been widowed two years before). A few years later they moved to Canada permanently with Marian's new husband George Grant Francis, and lived in Montreal while William Osler was a student, then a professor, at McGill University. The three cousins had a close relationship and Osler visited frequently, as often to see Marian's children as to see Marian and Jennette. Osler always had a love of children and childhood games, but he was especially fond of Marian's children. Some of them came to see him as a father figure; his interest in their welfare lasted the rest of his life. William Willoughby Francis, his namesake, became the first Osler librarian when Osler's library was donated to McGill University after his death.

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Osler and Neighbour Children at the Perram Farm, Tecumseth, 1855 or 1856CUS_031-001_P